Mr. Romney cares about the environment as all normal people do. He also seems to understand that criminalizing CO2 is incorrect and not helpful to anyone except people who gambled on carbon offset trading and the like. With this news, I must say this country's only chance is Mitt Romney for President. via Tom Nelson

"Mitt Romney seems bent on recycling George W. Bush’s global warming muddle, a hodgepodge of subsidies and policies that did nothing but waste money.Think ethanol, wind and solar. Know Romney by the company he now keeps as his advisers: •Jim Connaughton, Executive Vice President for Baltimore-based Constellation Energy, a very nice and pleasant fellow who ran the Bush climate show as chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). He was flat-out for cap-and-trade legislation (or regulation) of carbon dioxide, advocating a “stringent” target. No one can be for such a plan unless they believe that global warming is a problem so severe that it requires such a major intervention. He’s the number one candidate to be Romney’s EPA administrator.

•Brian Hannegan, Vice President for Environment and Renewables at the Electric Power Research Institute. This actually means “Vice President in support of subsidies and handouts” to power generation technologies that can’t compete with natural gas and coal. EPRI has always been the grand master of this Washington game, and a position high in the Romney Administration will only guarantee more of the same. Hannegan was Chief of Staff at CEQ and would likely work for Connaughton at EPA.

•Andy Karsner, who was Assistant Energy Secretary. Hedeveloped the Department of Energy loan guarantee program that funded Solyndra. It’s a fact that the Bush Administration tried to ram through the Solyndra loan in its final two weeks, but the Department’s credit committee held it up subject to further scrutiny, as the Administration’s clock expired. When the government pays off your loan for your product that cannot do so, this is known as a subsidy. Karsner could be Secretary of Energy.

Jeff Holmstead, head or the Office of Air and Radiation in the G.W. Bush EPA and Associate Counsel for G.H.W. Bush, where he was instrumental in getting the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 passed. No doubt he knew where the words “carbon dioxide” were insertedand what grief they would eventually cause, culminating in EPA’s stringent car fuel economy standards and power plant regulations. While his heart may be in the right place, he’s a serial meddler which can only come to no good in Washington.

We can’t expect Romney to have particular expertise on climate change, but we can expect that his advisers will help shape his policies and programs, which, given this group, is very scary.

Romney made a tremendous mistake on climate change when he was Governor of Massachusetts, when he tapped John Holdren, a radical population-control advocate, to advise him on his cap-and-trade proposal (!). Holdren is now President Obama’s Science Advisor and is the eminence behind all of the Administration’s green shenanigans.

Needless to say, this, along with his chosen environmental advisors, makes a lot of people nervous, perhaps too nervous to go out and vote. So, in order to calm people’s fears, here’s a series of campaign promises that Mr. Romney needs to make:

2) Promise to get EPA out of the gas mileage business and to reverse their greenhouse-gas regulations. Environmentalists will go to court immediately, citing the 2007 Supreme Court decision, Massachusetts v. EPA, which requires the Agency to regulate greenhouse gases under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (see Jeff Holmstead, above) if it finds they “endanger” health and welfare.

3) Have EPA revisit its endangerment finding, which it must overturn in order to stop regulation. I will have the necessary documentation completed for them by October 15, 2012.

These steps will go a long way towards reigning in the folks who have a clear and meddlesome intent with regard to climate change. Their hearts may be in the right place, but their hands aren’t. Either Mitt Romney drives them, or they will drive Romney."

"Patrick Michaels is a senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute."

Ed. note: Romney is a globalist. Even if he weren't he has been completely in the tank for global warming since before day 1, no question. He couldn't care less that it's the greatest crime against humanity in history. It kills people. Those it doesn't kill it forces to suffer. All the money in the world is behind it.

"I lost respect for Cantor the day of the House vote on ObamaCare.

About 15 minutes after the conclusion of the vote, as I sat on the couch watching in disbelief, I saw a group of about 10 Congressmen (some Dems, some Repubs) laughing and joking around. Cantor was right in the middle of it. I don’t pretend to know what they were discussing, but while the rest of us saw this piece of legislation as the beginning of the END, Cantor was laughing his a$$ off on the House floor. I’ll never forget."

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Ed. note: Establishment guys do not care about the country. They care only about the party. In the vast majority of cases.

The headline not only exposes the Obama-water-carrying attitudes at NPR, it also exposes the fact that NPR is filled with what I call "insular progressives." The latter are people with extremely liberal views, who have surrounded themselves with like-minded people. As a consequence, they are apt to say things that moderates and conservatives find ridiculous. But they never or rarely learn that because they have so little interaction with moderates and conservatives. Probably most professors and most mainstream journalists, I believe, could reasonably be called "insular progressives."

This time, however, the NPR progressives seem to have realized their insular nature, and it seems they became embarrassed by the headline. They changed it to "Is Moderate [my emphasis] Growth Actually Good for the Economy?"

What brought on the embarrassment? How'd the progressives at NPR come to realize how ridiculous their headline was?

It appears that two people, Gabriel Malor and Michelle Malkin, and one institution, Twitter, are most responsible. Malor wrote a link to the headline along with the the following tweet: "Unbelievable. Actual NPR headline." He wrote another tweet making fun of NPR's headline: "Is high blood pressure actually good for your health?"

Malkin retweeted Malor's tweet, and she urged her twitter followers to "let the NPR headlines games begin." Here are some of the faux NPR headlines. They include "Is cancer actually good for the body?" and "Was Seal Team Six good for bin Laden?".

I suspect that this story will gain some traction--at least among blogs and talk radio. I also suspect it will catch the attention of some members of Congress. NPR executives concerned about their taxpayer subsidies can't be too happy with this." via GWP

"Attacks apparently directed against Christians by radical groups claiming the mantle of Islam in Kenya and Nigeria yesterday illustrated the increasing polarization along Africa’s Christian-Muslim divide....The MSM likes to play this down, but Christian-Muslim conflict is an important driver of events in Africa today."...via Instapundit

"Every 50-cent jump in the cost of gasoline takes $70 billion out of the U.S. economy over the course of a year, Hamilton says. That's about one half of one percent of gross domestic product."-----------------------------

"The Housing market is likely to remain weak and may take a generation or more to rebound, Yale economics professor Robert Shiller told Reuters Insider on Tuesday.

Shiller, the co-creator of the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index, said a weak labor market, high gas prices and a general sense of unease among consumers was outweighing low mortgage rates and would likely keep a lid on prices for the foreseeable future.

"I worry that we might not see a really major turnaround in our lifetimes," Shiller said.

The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.2 percent in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, the first uptick in prices in 10 months.

But Shiller called it "a very mixed bag." Nine of the 20 cities recorded falling or flat prices on the month.

"Consider the tax on gasoline. Driving your car is associated with various adverse side effects, which economists call externalities. These include traffic congestion, accidents, local pollution and global climate change. If the tax on gasoline were higher, people would alter their behavior to drive less.They would be more likely to take public transportation, use car pools or live closer to work."...

"His (Bryson's) comments had an effect on Breyer. "We better get away from oil. That'll help us. I hear Tom Friedman and Bryson -- they are giving five reasons why. .... They said the world price -- raise the price of oil. Raise the price of oil! Raise it through the roof,and then people will look for substitutes,

They also found the affect to be greater at night than during the day.

The study could help researchers better understand the impact of wind farms on local environments.

After discounting the impact of surface features such as vegetation, roads, light reflection and surface structures, the researchers concluded that thetemperature change was caused by air turbulence generated by the turbines' giant rotor blades.

"Turbine rotors were modifying surface-atmosphere exchanges and the transfer of energy, momentum, mass and moisture within the atmosphere," they wrote.

The findings are based on nine years of satellite datacovering an area of central western Texas, where some of the world's largest wind farms are located.

The results match modelling studies showing wind farms can significantly affect local scale meteorology by increasing surface roughness, changing the stability of the atmospheric boundary layer, and enhancing turbulence in the wake generated by rotor blades."

.The mission to hunt down one man in a vast jungle could take many years and hundreds of millions of US taxpayer dollars. Per a BBC radio host, it was estimated US taxpayers were spending $1.5 million/month on this Uganda operation, so why wouldn't Ugandans take forever to hunt down the man since US money would keep pouring in? The host then said he had recently spoken with the US ambassador to Uganda who told him the US was spending "much more" than $1.5 million a month. Heard on BBC radio between 12:30 and 2am ET, Mon. 4/30/12. The host's comments were made in conversation with a correspondent, no link.

"In a bare concrete room in a far-flung corner of Central African Republic, US special forces and Ugandan soldiers map out the hunt for one of Africa's most wanted rebel leaders hiding in an area the size of California....

Now it serves as an operational centre in one of America's latest military ventures in Africa....

"(The) focus is the removal of Joseph Kony and senior Lord's Resistance Army leadership from the battlefield," said Captain Ken Wright,a navy SEAL in command of the roughly 100-strong force which deployed in October....

The deployment of elite American forces to help track Kony and his senior commanders in the dense equatorial jungle across a region that spans several countries has raised hopes the sadistic warlord's days are numbered.

The troops are armed but do not patrol the surrounding forests and are allowed to engage the LRA only in self-defence....

US military officials are reluctant to bet on if and when they might snare Kony.

"The global effort to try to find Osama bin Laden took 10 years with an extraordinary level of effort ... the highest priority for the international intelligence community, and it still took 10 years to find him," General Carter Ham, commander of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) told a media briefing in Germany ahead of the tightly contolled trip.

"Human Rights Watch (HRW) during the height of the Kony 2012 hysteria, dusted off one of its old propaganda videos titled, "Joseph Kony - LRA" uploaded on November of 2010, to try and capitalize on the attention Invisible Children raised earlier this month. However, the Kony 2012 campaign imploded just as fast with vast numbers of people pointing out the untenable narrative it attempted to peddle, and the fact that it served as nothing more than a pretext for an expanded US AFRICOM presence in Africa.

Image: HRW's partners include Wall Street speculator George Soros' Open Society Institute which also funds Invisible Children through a myriad of proxy foundations. Note on the right-hand side the "Dear Obama" video which is featured below. It was originally uploaded in 2010, but has just recently been featured on HRW's website in the midst of the recent Kony 2012 hysteria."....

"Part of the difficulty in tracking Kony stems from the fact he can move freely across porous borders, and not all countries in the region have joined the chase, said Ugandan armed forces spokesman Col. Felix Kulayigye.

He believes Kony is shuffling between Sudan and the Central African Republic.

"This is the strategy that he has used for the last four to five years. When the pressure is too much here, he runs across the border because he knows we are not allowed to go after him," Kulayigye said. "Whenever pressure is high, he just switches to north Sudan. It hampers our operation.""...

-------------------------------

Ed. note: Countries like Uganda are targets for UN "carbon offset" climate profiteers so this operation may take the focus off EuroTrash coming in and kicking natives off the land in the name of "saving the planet." It also pours US taxpayer dollars down another sinkhole and wastes our elite military so that's a bonus.

"True to form, the overwhelming majority of press outlets failed to report the juiciest global-warming gossip of the week — a change of heart on the issue by one of the world’s most celebrated environmentalists. Also true to form, the press failed to report the most profound science story of the week — a startling theory that not only absolves humans of blame in global warming but sheds light on another taboo subject: shortcomings in Darwin’s theory of evolution....

Perhaps these ­unskeptical journalists don’t question scientists out of a belief that scientists’ pronouncements are free of the self-interest that taints politicians or corporations.... Or perhaps these journalists fear being subjected to ridicule if they buck politically correct views. Whatever the reasons for journalistic deference to dogma in science, the victim is the information-consuming public, which at best is kept in the dark, at worst is duped.

Take the juicy global-warming story I referred to. Several years ago, environmentalist James Lovelock made headlines when he announced that global warming would end the world as we know it — he predicted that “billions of us will dieand the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable.” Google searches associating his name with global warming and climate change now exceed one million hits, and understandably so, given his reputation. Lovelock has infused environmental thought for decades through best-selling books describing Earth as a living organism — Lovelock is the one who coined the Gaia concept. Among many other honours heaped on Lovelock, Time magazine featured himin a series onHeroes of the Environment.

So, why, when Lovelock this week recanted his past views on global warming as being “alarmist,” did virtuallyevery major news outlet on the planet ignore his change of heart? It wasn’t because he minced his words.

“The problem is we don’t know what the climate is doing. We thought we knew 20 years ago,” he admitted, adding that temperatures haven’t increased as expected over the last 12 years. “There’s nothing much really happening yet. We were supposed to be halfway toward a frying world now.”

What else has the press, in its wisdom, decided to keep from the public in recent days? One eye-opener is the advance of ice in both the Arctic and the Antarctic — both are now at or above average levels. Another is an announcement by researchers at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and the Riken research foundation that the world may be heading into a prolonged period of global cooling — the Japanese study compared sunspot activity today with sunspots that preceded the Little Ice Age in the 17th century to find close similarities.

Had questioning of global warming not been taboo to most journalists, these stories would have doubtless merited ink and air time, not least because they tell a fresh story. Because the subject is taboo, the press censors itself.

The freshest story of all this week, which by rights should have rated stellar coverage, involved a powerful refutation of Darwin’s theory of evolution and its mechanism, natural selection. “Natural selection acts only by taking advantage of slight successive variations; she can never take a great and sudden leap, but must advance by short and sure, though slow steps,” Darwin wrote. Now, suggests a study published by the U.K.’s Royal Astronomical Society, life on Earth did not evolve smoothly at all: To the contrary, the planet owes its diversity to intense periods of productivity interspersed with immense periods of stagnancy. The mechanism for this evolving theory? Climate change on Earth, driven by galactic cosmic rays originating from exploding supernovas — the final act of stars.

This study, Evidence of nearby supernovae affecting life on Earth, does have a problem, although it convincingly correlates the development of life on Earth with the explosion of nearby stars over the past 510 million years. The problem is its author, Henrik Svensmark, a professor of physics at the Center for Sun-Climate Research at the Danish Space Research Institute, who is reviled in the global warming science establishment for studies showing that the Sun and cosmic rays, not man, drives the current climate on Earth.

Reporters on the global-warming beatand their editorshave long ignored if not disparaged Svensmark. His latest study, which shows cosmic rays to have also driven the ancient climate, provides most journalists with reason enough to continue to ignore him, even though his study has been published by the world’s oldest and one of its most illustrious astronomical societies."...

"James Lovelock, the maverick scientist who became a guru to the environmental movement with his “Gaia” theory of the Earth as a single organism, has admitted to being “alarmist” about climate change and says other environmental commentators, such as Al Gore, were too."...

"Maurice Strong, Senior Advisor to the 2012 Rio+20 Summit, was named as the first recipient of the inaugural World Green Tourism Award in recognition ofhis pivotal role in shaping the global sustainable development agenda,and in recognising the potential of Travel & Tourism to make a contribution to mainstream green growth transformation.

Maurice Strong received the award at the World Green Tourism conference and exhibition, which took place at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from December 5-7, where he was invited to deliver the valedictory address.

Sponsored by Etihad Airways in partnership with the International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP), the award recognises Strong’s outstanding efforts to encourage thought leadership and action for green initiatives in travel and tourism.

Among his many public and private sector appointments, Strong has served as Secretary General of the 1972 Stockholm Environment Conference, and as the First Head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).In 1992, he was Secretary General of the Rio Earth Summit, the United Nations conference on environment and development.

During the Rio Conference, he proposed an “Agenda 21 for Travel & Tourism.” This became the basic framework for global programmes by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and UNWTO to start the development of a travel and tourism sector that was environmentally, socially, and culturally sustainable.

Lipman added: “The World Green Tourism Award was launched this year to serve as an inspiration to the travel and tourism sector as it shifts to a green growth paradigm. Delivering the inaugural award at the World Green Tourism Conference in Abu Dhabi is a significant milestone, given that the event is the leading global focal point on sustainable travel and tourism. With the Durban Climate meeting underway and next year’s Rio + 20 in sight, the timing of the award is also highly relevant.”

Organised by Streamline Marketing Group, World Green Tourism, the first commercial conference and exhibition specifically for the sustainable tourism sector, was hosted by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) and the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi. It was held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, ADTA’s Chairman.

About ADTA: Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) has wide ranging responsibilities for managing and assisting the development of the emirate's tourism industry and the marketing and promotion of the emirate as a world-class destination of distinction. Its responsibilities include; destination marketing; infrastructure and product development and regulation and classification. A key role is to create synergy in the international promotion of Abu Dhabi through close co-ordination with the emirate's hotels, destination management companies, airlines and other public and private sector travel-related organisations.

About EAD: The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) was established in 1996 to preserve Abu Dhabi’s natural heritage, protect our future, and raise awareness about environmental issues. EAD is Abu Dhabi’s environmental regulator and advises the government on environmental policy. It works to create sustainable communities, and protect and conserve wildlife and natural resources. EAD also works to ensure integrated and sustainable water resources management, to ensure clean air and minimise climate change and its impacts.

About Streamline Marketing Group: Streamline Marketing Group (www.smg-online.com) is a boutique events agency with a 12-year track record of launching specialised trade events in the Arabian Gulf both on its own in partnership with international media groups, global governmental organisations and NGOs. Providing professional and proactive services, with a strong focus on government-related and niche marketing projects, the group's philosophy is to provide tailor-made and cost-effective service, offering its clients complete turn-key management.

About Etihad Airways: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, began operations in 2003, and in 2010 carried more than seven million passengers. From its hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Etihad Airways serves 86 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America, with a fleet of 63 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and 100 aircraft on order, including 10 Airbus A380s, the world’s largest passenger aircraft. For more information, please visit: www.etihadairways.com.

About ICTP: The International Council of Tourism Partners is a grassroots travel&tourism coalition of global destinations committed to Quality Service and Green Growth. It helps member destinations and their stakeholders share quality and green opportunities. It advocates:- sustainable aviation growth; streamlined travel and fair coherent taxation www.tourismpartners.org "

Sunday, April 29, 2012

"This has been a tough week for conservatives in Washington. Republicans in both houses are caving on the postal bailout, highway bill, appropriations, Ex-Im Bank, Violence Against Women Act, and the student loan bailout. It’s not going to get easier when they come back from recess in May. This is why we need game-changers like Scott Keadle in Congress. Keadle is running in NC-8, the seat currently held by born-again blue dog Larry Kissell.

As I search out conservative candidates throughout the country on behalf of the Madison Project PAC, I’m struck by how few candidates truly grasp the problems at hand within the Republican conference. Sure – they all talk about repealing Obamacare, a balanced budget, and out-of- control spending. But it is some of the aforementioned issues that separate the real supporters of free-markets from those who merely offer a pale-pastel contrast from the Democrats.

I’ve spent a lot of time with Scott Keadle, and have come to realize that he is one of the biggest super stars of this election cycle. This is a guy who will get it right on every issue. And he truly understands the problems inherent with our current leadership. Perforce, it comes as no surprise that Eric Cantor and his “Young Guns” are taking their show on the road to NC-8.

The super PAC affiliated with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., has made its first independent expenditure in support of a Republican challenger, according to FEC filings. And it comes in a race where another powerful conservative outside group has lined up on the other side.

The YG Action Fund, which is run by ex-Cantor aides, has spent $22,750 on a mailer supporting Richard Hudson for the Republican nomination in North Carolina’s 8th District, currently held by Democratic Rep. Larry Kissell. The GOP race also includes Scott Keadle, a dentist and former county official who is one of six House candidates who received endorsements from the Club for Growth this cycle.

Hudson is a longtime Hill aide who served as chief of staff to Texas GOP Reps. Mike Conaway and John Carter and Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.

There is a reason why this is Cantor’s first independent expenditure on behalf of a Republican challenger. Keadle will never beat to the drum of leadership. Richard Hudson is a creature of Washington with his robust ties to GOP establishment leaders.

People often ask me where they could get the best value for their political contributions. There are a few good stars this cycle, but if I were forced to pick the best individual to support, it would be Dr. Scott Keadle. If you don’t believe me, just ask leadership.

The primary will be held on May 8, but there will be a runoff if no candidate receives 40% of the vote. Let’s help end it on May 8."

This region faces a wide range of likely interacting threats from climate change...increased severity of droughts and floods, radically altered fire regimes...that make it particularly important to train Defense Department managers on how to prepare for and adapt to the changing operational environment.

Researchers from a wide range of fields at the University of Arizona-- from computer climate modeling and fire ecology to hydrology and social sciences -- have recently been selected by the Defense Departmentto help managers at Southwestern Defense facilities understand the risks they face with a changing climate and learn how to adapt to these risks."...

----------------------------

"Rafe Sagarin is an ecologist at the University of Arizona. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and a former AAAS Congressional Science Fellow. His books, "Natural Security"... and "Learning From the Octopus"... outline in full the multidisciplinary development of the linkages between biological evolution, adaptation and security."

Ed. note: People in the military are taught to do one thing, take orders without comment. Their job is to carry out Obama's orders. If people at U. of Arizona said global warming did not exist they would be out millions in free money.

"More than 1 million Americans who have taken out mortgagesin the past two years now owe more on their loans than their homes are worth, and Federal Housing Administration loans that require only a tiny down payment are partly to blame.

"That figure, provided to Reuters by tracking firm CoreLogic, represents about one out of 10 home loans made during that period.

It is a sobering indication the U.S. housing market remains deeply troubled, with home values still falling in many parts of the country, and raises the question of whether low-down payment loans backed by the FHA are putting another generation of buyers at risk.

As of December 2011, the latest figures available, 31 percent of the U.S. home loans that were in negative equity - in which the outstanding loan balance exceeds the value of the home - were FHA-insured mortgages, according to CoreLogic.

Many borrowers, particularly since late 2010, thought they were buying at the bottom of a housing market that had already suffered steep declines, but have been caught out by a continued fall in prices in wide swaths of America.

Even for loans taken out in December - less than four months ago and the last month for which data is available - nearly 44,000 borrowers, or about 7.5 percent of the total, now find themselves under water.

"The overwhelming majority of the U.S. is still seeing home prices decline," said CoreLogic senior economist Sam Khater. "Many borrowers continue to be quickly wiped out."

The problem is not uniform around the country. In some areas, such as Washington, D.C., Miami and parts of northern California, prices are on the rise.

CoreLogic predicts the overall U.S. housing market will finally bottom out this year....

Still, Khater said,since October 2010average home prices have fallen 7.4 percent. Overall, CoreLogic data shows that 11.1 million, or 22.8 percent, of U.S. residential properties with a mortgage are in negative equity, unchanged from the summer of 2010.

According to theS&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index, which tracks home values in 20 major U.S. metropolitan areas, U.S. home prices were down 3.5 percent in February from a year earlier and are now at their lowest level since late 2002. Over the past 12 months, 15 of the 20 major metropolitan areas monitored saw declines.

CoreLogic says a significant factor causing recent home loans to slide under water has been the availability of government-insured mortgages that require only a small down payment.

These loans, insured by the FHA, require a down payment of as little as 3.5 percent of the purchase price, providing only a small cushion of protection against a drop in home prices that could drive a borrower into negative equity.

"This is creating a new wave of underwater borrowers," said Gary Shilling, a veteran financial analyst and well-known housing market bear. "We have all three branches of government trying to keep people in four bedroom houses who can't afford chicken coops."

The U.S. Federal Reserve, in a report delivered to Congress in January, estimated that 12 million American homeowners had negative equity. Of those, the Federal Reserve said, million were borrowers with FHA-insured loans.

CoreLogic's Khater said: "Low down payment lending in a weak housing market and weak economy begs the question whether we are setting up the FHA to have a multitude of failures down the line."...

Florida has seen one of the greatest drops in house values since the housing crash of 2008, 30 percent on average since October 2010 and over 50 percent since the height of the bubble in 2006, according to Case-Shiller.

FHA-insured loans were begun during the Great Depression and have traditionally been used to enable lower income Americans to get mortgages.

Historically, FHA loans accounted for 8 percent to 12 percent of the mortgage market. According to the FHA, this rose to 30 percent in late 2009 and to about 50 percent for first-time buyers at the height of the financial crisis.

FHA officials say they are deliberately reducing their market share of loans as the private sector increases its lending. The agency share of home loans is today down to about 25 percent, and will continue to fall, officials say.

Charles Coulter, a deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the FHA, said it was the FHA's mission to provide affordable housing, particularly in times of financial crisis when private sector financing dries up.

"We are the only opportunity for borrowers who can't come up with a 5, 10 or 20 percent down payment to get a home," Coulter said.

He said the size of down payments was "an important risk parameter, it's something we have been evaluating and a factor we will continue to evaluate.""...via Drudge

"A 45-cent-per-gallon government subsidy for ethanol producers ended earlier this year, but there's still a mandate that forces refineries to blend ethanol with gasoline. Before the mandate, refineries used about half as much ethanol as they do today." (caption under E85 picture).

"So much for the +3.0% GDP whisper number. Instead of printing at the expected number of +2.5%, the first preliminary GDP data point (two more revisions pending) came out at 2.2%, a big disappointment for a quarter which had a substantial boost from the weather. And while of the 2.2%, Personal Consumption came in strong - as expected, as it was precisely the factor most impacted by pulling in demand forward courtesy of "April in February", 0.59% of the 2.2% was an increase in inventories, something which was not supposed to happen as it means that the quality of the economic growth in Q1 was far worse than expected.Cementing the ugly composition of Q1 GDP was fixed investment which added just a paltry 0.18% -

this is the number which is critical for ongoing cashflow generation and unfortunately,

the very low printmeans that growth outlook for Q2 is now even worse than before and we expect economists will promptly trim their already bearish predictions for Q2 GDP. Finally, government "consumption" subtracted just 0.6% from the total number, a decrease from the 0.84% in Q4, which means that once again the government is starting to become less of a detractor to growth - a dagger in the heart to anyone who claims there is "quality" in GDP growth. And the number you have all been waiting for: At March 31,

"Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar has fallen behind state Treasurer Richard Mourdock by five points, according to a new poll released exclusively to POLITICO.

The survey, taken Tuesday and Wednesday by Wenzel Strategies on behalf of Citizens United, places Mourdock at 44 percent and Lugar at 39 percent. Nearly 17 percent remain undecided with just 12 days to go until the Indiana Senate primary…. In mid-March, a Wenzel survey showed Lugar clinging to just a 6-point advantage.""

And during Wednesday's final presidential debate, the Democrat gave Lugar his highest praise yet. He said the Republican was among a handful of people "who have shaped my ideas and who will be surrounding me in the White House.""

"“He’s got to run against who he is.” This was the verdict on Republican Senator Richard Lugar from one of the activists attending a Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS) national conference in Washington, D.C. last week. The group used to be known as the World Federalist Association but dropped the name because of the taint associated with promoting world government.

The incumbent Lugar, one of their favorites, is fighting for his political life in the Indiana Republican Senate primary against Richard Mourdock, Indiana’s State Treasurer, who has highlighted Lugar’s financial link to Democratic money bags George Soros. “Senator Lugar is one of the few Republicans ever supported by Soros,” Mourdock says.

The World Federalist Association had openly stated that a “world federation,” a euphemism for world government, can be achieved by advancing “step by step toward global governance” through establishing new U.N.-associated entities such as the International Criminal Court and by passing measures like the Law of the Sea Treaty. One of its main priorities is “To provide the U.N. with sustained and independent sources of funding.”

That is, global taxes.

“Lugar can’t use that part of who he is,” said a left-wing activist, discussing the race as people waited for Obama Administration officials to brief the participants on “genocide prevention.” He said the world government lobby had met with Lugar’s personnel to offer their help, but were told that any public expression of support for the liberal Republican senator would backfire because of mounting Republican suspicions that Lugar is a RINO—Republican In Name Only.

In this context, the release of the latest CGS Congressional Report Card cannot come as good news for the senator. The group gives Lugar a B minus, the highest for any Republican in the Senate except for liberal Susan Collins of Maine.

By comparison, the other Republican senator from Indiana, conservative Dan Coats, got an F.

The report card measures votes on global issues such as ratification of U.N. treaties, and funding for international institutions such as the U.N. and the International Monetary Fund."...